ACCIDENT AT.CHIARINI'S CIRCUS IN MEL, BOURNE.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 170, 10 June 1873, Page 2

ACCIDENT AT.CHIARINI'S CIRCUS IN MEL, BOURNE.

Th« Auttralarian of the 19fch gives th& following aooount of this eccident, a fen- particulars of which we had already by telegraph : — During the performance at Chiarini's Circus on Monday night an accident occurred, which, if the audience had nob exhibited more self-command than a crowd in a large building usually does, might have been attended with verydi«a«troua consequences. As it happened only three or four persom were injured. The circus, ifc m*y be mentioned, w erected on a block of land in Lonsdale-street. It is built of timber, the seats risiug above one another, tier above tier, to the number of eight or nine, th» whole covered over with canvas. The distance between tho highest tier and the ground is about 10 feet. The floor is aupportedjby what ar© called stringers, placed 7ft or Bft apart from each other. Oo Monday the attendance at the place was very large, every available foot of ground being occupied, and there mutt have been over 3000 persons present. The performance had pnsjed off very successfully, and the audience had not ceased lauding at the tricks of the twn ponies. Arlequin and Mo»ca, when a crash was heard from the direction of the family circle, and this was immediately followed by loud cries, and looking to the place whence the noise proceeded, we could sea a number of people disappearing through the floor. There was a general cry of " Keep your seats," and fortunately those who were unhurt made no attempt to get out of the building. On a search being made for those who had disappeared, it was dissowred that some twenty or thirty persons had fallen to the ground. Of these but four, so far as could be ascertained, were hurt. A Mrs Smith, vho resides at the Earl of Zetland Hotel, Collingwood, had her head cut, and was bruited about the shoulder •; her daughter' fainted from the fright, but otherwise sustained no damage ; Mrs Campbell, wife of a gentleman in Fitzroy, received a shock to the system ; and a Mr Thomas Campbell, who had come from Queenscliffe with his family to spend the holiday* in Melbourne, received a cut on the head and some bruises on the side. Dr Motherwell, who was in the Circus at the time; attended to the casualties ; and all the persons who were injured were sent to their homes in cabs provided by the proprietorr of the circus. As to the cause of the acoident, it seems that one of the " stringers " before alluded to, and which is made of Baltic pine, was unable to bear tho pressure, and broko in the middle, the result being, of course, that "the plunks that were resting on it fell to the ground. Just at tho place oi: fracture there was a knot in the wood, but otherwise -the timber seemed sound enough. The exist enco of the knot was no" doubt tho cause of the accident.

TnE Moo>f. — If the atmosphere of tho moon really exists (says the Engineer), its density is lew than tho 2000r,1i part of tho density of the earth's atnftxphere. Snoh on atmosphere would he inoro attenuated th*n^ the racuuin which is obtained, under the host oontlitions, likthe mo»t perfect air-pumps. The refraction, or rather non-rpfifacition of stars, is the means by vrhioh thi» determination is obtained. All observations hitherto made tend to prove that *« water in any form doet not exist on the moon's »urfW. But it has been considered that it was once present there, and indeed traces of aqueous or glacial action are by some considorod to bo evident. What then has become of the water? Assuming the solid mass of tho moon to contract on cooling at the same rate as granite, its refrigeration, through only 180 degrees Fahr., would create cellular space equal to 15£ millions of cubic miles, which would be more than sufficient to engulph tho whole of the lunar oceans supposing them to beat* the same proportion' to the mass oi the moon as our own oceans boar to that of the earth. If this bo tho present condition of the moou, we can scarcely avoid tho conclusion that an ocean can only exist on th» ' surface of a planot as long as tho latter retains a hi»h internal temporature.